The Light In Me
by LoveOfFiction
Summary: The story of what would've happened had Xena and Gabrielle parted ways when Gabrielle became the Amazon queen. Xena has disappeared to Gabrielle's knowledge. The Amazons face a war they can not win against a great new warlord named Deklin. Will they survive? Will Gabrielle ever see her soul mate again?
1. Abandoned

"Gabrielle, you know taking on Deklin's army will not be so simple. " The blonde smiled as Ephiny spoke of the impending battle the amazons faced. "I know this Ephiny but he threatens to take us all out. I'm not even sure why... The Amazons have never done anything to even put us on his conquer list." Ephiny shrugged at her queen. "I couldn't tell you Gabrielle this all seems very odd to me." Gabrielle nodded "I agree there is something else behind this war but what it is I'm not sure." The two Amazons walked through their village watching as the children ran around playing. The now great queen smiled when she saw her daugther playing with the other children. Ephiny watched the sparkle in Gabrielle's eyes as she stared down at her child. "She thinks you to be like a God." Gabrielle smiled and gave her head a small nod. "I know she does." Ephiny lightly elbowed Gabrielle in the ribs. "Do not worry. Nothing will happen to the children we are strong." Gabrielle now turned her attention to her friend. "Ephiny I am going to Poteidaea I'm taking her to stay with my parents until this is over. I'll never be able to fight with a clear head if I'm worried about her getting caught in the cross fire of this." The Amazon nodded to her queen.

"I will be leaving tonight. It should only take a day's ride to get there. I need you to take care of the tribe for the time being." Ephiny nodded. "Anything for you, Gabrielle." The blonde nodded as she touched her hand to Ephiny's shoulder. "You are my greatest friend." The Amazon queen turned and began to walk back to her hut to being to gather her daugther's clothes and belongings. "Aminta come along!" Gabrielle's daugther looked up when she heard her name behing called. Seeing her mother she ran to her. "What is it, mom?" Gabrielle leaned down to move a strand of hair from her child's face. "You are going to stay with your grandparents for a while." The small girl nodded as she smiled. "Okay!" She quickly ran to the hut to gather the toys she wanted to take along. Gabrielle smiled as she followed Aminta to the hut. It wasn't long before they were packed. Ephiny had gotten their horse ready for the ride and was waiting at the edge of the village for the two. "Are you ready, my queen?" Ephiny smiled as she held the reins for the horse in her hand. Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "What have I told you? Don't call me your queen. We are to close for such things."

Ephiny chuckled as she handed the reins to the woman as she approached. "But your facial expressions are worth seeing." Gabrielle took the reins as she wrapped her arm around her daugther and lifted her onto the front of the horse. "I'll be back shortly, Ephiny. Try to keep things in order this time." Ephiny nodded as she giggled. "I will make sure they don't get into any trouble, Gabrielle." Gabrielle reached up grabbing hold of the saddle and lifted herself onto the horse. When she was settled and had Aminta seated comfortably she rode off from her tribe. The ride was in one straight shot was short. Gabrielle arrived at Poteidaea before the sun had risen. Her small daugther sleeping against her chest. As if sensing it Lilla, Gabrielle's sister came out of the house. "Gabrielle! Oh look at her! The poor thing must be so tired. Here give her to me I'll take her to bed." Lilla came to stand by the horse her arms out stretched to take the child from her older sister. Gabrielle smiled as she gently handed her daugther off to Lilla then jumped down from her horse. The darker haired woman then went into the house to put her niece to bed as Gabrielle took in Aminta's bags. Gabrielle's parents were also up. Both of them sitting at the table as if waiting for her.

"I brought Aminta for you to watch for a while. There's a battle coming. I don't want her anywhere near the village until it's over. I know she'll be safe here." Gabrielle's mother smiled as she stood up to come and kiss her eldest daugther's cheek. "Of course we'll keep her here Gabrielle." The woman then rushed off to gather some more blankets for the sleeping child in the next room. Gabrielle's father remained silent. She knew what was coming. Another lecture about her life. She sighed as she sat her daugther's bags down to go sit at the table with her father. "You know, if you'd never met that devil woman you'd still be here, at home where you belong." Gabrielle hated how her father talked about Xena. "Father, had it not been for Xena and the life I live now you wouldn't have that granddaguther who is sleeping in that room there." She pointed to what was once her and Lilla's shared bedroom. "You can say anything you want about Xena but she changed me and it was for the good. She gave me a meaning to my life. She gave me my daugther." Before her father could begin to argue Gabrielle raised her hand. "Don't argue with me. Not now. I have to much to worry about right now. Just keep her safe until I come back to get her." She stood from the chair and began to head back twoards the door.

"You make Xena out to be some kind of God. Yet where she is now? You went your own ways and it's been what since you were pregnant with Aminta since you saw her last? That was over 7 years ago,Gabrielle." The blonde stopped her hand on the door. She stared at the door as her father's words hit her like knives. He was right. She hadn't heard nor seen the Warrior Princess in a very long time. She felt like she had just abandoned her though she had never spoke those words. "Xena and I are both on different paths in life. She's trying to find her redemption." The Amazon quickly opened the door and left the house not bothering to say goodbye to her mother or sister. She quickly got back onto her horse and began to race back to her tribe. Tears burned her eyes as the brisk morning air hit her face. Xena would come back. She promised they would be together.


	2. Welcome Home

Gabrielle had returned back to the Amazon's by sunset. Her horse panting heavily from the long ride to and from Potidaea. Though what the Amazon queen found was not what she had expected to return home too. All the huts had been burnt to the ground, smoking rising from what remained of her home. "Ephiny!" Gabrielle quickly ran into the remains searching for her sisters. "Ephiny!?" Gabrielle could feel her heart racing in her chest. If they had been killed the bodies would be around but Gabrielle saw nothing. "Gabrielle!" Hearing Ephiny's voice sent a wave of calm over the queen. She then began to dig through the remains of the burnt huts, searching desperatly for the woman. When she finally found her she had to cover her mouth trying to keep her shock inside. Ephiny laid underneath a collapsed roof covered in ash, dirt, and blood. "What happened?" Gabrielle asked as she began to pull the roof from Ephiny's body to release the Amazon. Ephiny coughed before answering "Deklin's men came looking for you. They said they had a message for you. When I told them you had left for the time being they began to burn down the village. We fought them, Gabrielle. We were no match for them. They took the entire village as slaves. The children. By the Gods the children..." Ephiny suddenly began to cry. Mention of the children sending Gabrielle into a panic.

"What about the children, Ephiny?!" Once she had cleared away the roof the blonde quickly sat Ephiny up and untied her water bag from her belt. Lightly touching it to Ephiny's lips she raised it allowing the woman to drink. When Ephiny was done she finished her story. "They took the children into the woods. I heard screams...Gabrielle I think they..." The Amazon warrior's words faded off as she looked into the woods. Unable to believe Ephiny, Gabrielle went into the woods. She walked only a few feet into the woods before she tripped. Catching herself she looked down to see what she had tripped over. Hidden behind a tree laid a foot that Gabrielle had not seen. Gabrielle almost choked seeing the bloodied child leaning against the tree as if she was sleeping. She pulled her eyes away from the girl and began to look around the rest of the woods. She could see the children of the village scattered throughout the ground all covered in their own blood.

Not wanting to look anymore Gabrielle went back to Ephiny, tears streaking her cheeks. Ephiny only had to see her queen's face to know what she thought was true. "We have to go after the rest of the tribe. It's time I meet this Deklin face to face." Ephiny nodded it was suicide but she wanted vengence. After she had gotten Ephiny to her face she checked her over to look for any serious wounds. When she was certain Ephiny was not in any serious danger she whistled for her horse who came trotting to Gabrielle's side. "We should be able to catch them if we hurry." Ephiny groaned as she lifted herself onto the back of the saddle. Gabrielle quickly jumping to the front. "Hold on." Ephiny slid her hands around Gabrielle's stomach as they left the burnt village behind.


	3. Mystery

"There they are." Gabrielle nodded in response to Ephiny who pointed at the bottom of the cliff. Walking along a pass was in fact Deklin's men with a trail of chained Amazons behind them. "Ephiny can you fight?" The Amazon smiled as she pulled her sword from its holster. "Of course." Pulling on the reins Gabrielle turned the horse to head towards the front of the pass at the edge of the cliff. There they would make their stand against Deklin's men. They had beaten Deklin's men to the head of the pass. Both Amazons quickly jumped down from the horse. Grabbing her swords from the horse's sattle, Gabrielle gave the horse a smack on the rear so it would head off into the woods. Holding both swords tightly in her hands Gabrielle and Ephiny waited patiently. It wasn't long before the Amazons could see the black armor that Deklin's men wore. A few moments later the small fleet of men had finally laid eyes on Gabrielle and Ephiny. "Oh, look boys we have a few more Amazons who want to come along." Gabrielle smiled "So cocky. Here let me help with that." The commander of the group waved his hand, his men stepping forward and drawing their swords.

"They never want to make this easy do they?" Ephiny said as she raised her sword. "Never. Now let's get this over with!" Gabrielle rushed forward bringing both of her swords in to slice open the chest of one of the soliders. It didn't take long for the men to surround both Ephiny and Gabrielle. "We can take them!" Gabrielle blocked off a few swings from the soliders then felt Ephiny being pushed into her. Both Amazons fell to the ground when they tried to get back up they were met with pointy swords. "Tie them up. Deklin will be happy to have the Amazon Queen as a guest." The soliders did as they were told taking hold of Gabrielle and Ephiny then taking them to the back of the line of Amazons. They cuffed them to the rest then continued to move on. A few of the Amazons turned to look at Gabrielle. "Are you okay my queen?" Gabrielle nodded and smiled to reassure them.

The journey to Deklin's camp only took them a few hours. Gabrielle took in the camp the amount of soliders walking around or sitting around fires. She had to give it to this warlord. He had a rather large army behind him. The line came to a halt as the commander walked back to talk to the Amazons. "Deklin will be with you shortly." The man walked off heading further into the camp. The Amazons remained silent all looking to their queen for guidance. "Stay calm and stand strong. We'll make it through this." The others nodded to Gabrielle then stood up tall, showing the pride they held in their nation. As the solider had said soon Deklin came to see the Amazons. He was a tall man with black hair that touched his shoulders. His eyes seemed to glow with hatred and evil. He was clad in black armor that looked almost like the hide of a dragon. "Who here is the queen?" His voice was deep almost like the growl of a lion. Gabrielle stepped forward. "That would be me." Deklin smiled as he approached Gabrielle. "A pretty one aren't you? I've gone to a lot of trouble trying to find you, Gabrielle." Deklin smirked as he turned to his men. "Take these women to the dungeon. Then bring Gabrielle to my tent."

The Amazon queen was shocked. How could he have known her name? Why had he been looking for her? She had no time to ask her questions as she was uncuffed and her tribe taken to the dungeon. "Ephiny!" Gabrielle quickly turned to grab hold of her friend's arm. But her action was swiftly met with a knee to her stomach. Her hand slipped from Ephiny's arm as she dropped to the ground her hand holding onto her stomach as she coughed. "Don't worry, Gabrielle we'll be fine. Just worry about Deklin." Soon a strong hand reached down to grab hold of her arms. "Let's go." Looking up she saw one of the soliders that had lead them here picking her from her knees. He set her down then shoved her forward. "Move." She did as commanded knowing that fighting back now would only get her and her friends killed. The solider lead her to Deklin's tent which was not hard to pick out among the others. It was the largest and most impressive looking. The tent it's self stood at least twenty-five feet tall and was covered in red and black. The other tents only stood half as tall and were solid black.

After moving the tent's flaps to the side, Gabrielle stepped inside. Inside the tent was spacious. A large bed with many types of furs laid in the middle of the floor. Off to the side sat a table with a map rolled out across it. On the opposing side from her stood Deklin who still had the same smirk from before on his face. "What do you want with my tribe?" Deklin chuckled before answering. "Your tribe was not my conquest. You are. Now you are here. Your tribe will be sold to the highest bidder making me a pretty denar." Gabrielle wanted to smack that smile off his face but she knew that wouldn't help at all. She simply balled up her fists and grit her teeth. "You will not." Deklin smiled. "Ah but I already have people on their way to collect. You really have no choice." The sound of the tent flaps moving caused Gabrielle to look back. Stepping inside the tent was a hooded figure. THe hood covering the person's face enough so they could not be seen. "Ah there you are. Is this the woman of the Amazon's you wanted me to find?" THe hooded figure was still. Gabrielle wasn't sure if the person was looking at her or not. At least not until the person shook their head. So this was the person who had sought her out. She had to know who it was.

Before she had a chance to speak she felt a hard blow to her head. It took a few seconds but soon the world began to turn black.


	4. Reunion

"Gabrielle. Gabrielle wake up." The blonde's eyes fluttered open to be greeted by the sight of Ephiny's face. "What happened?" She rubbed the throbbing spot on the back of her head as she looked around. "I'm not sure. You were brought down here like this." Gabrielle sighed. "Well this is going worse then I expected." Ephiny sat down beside her friend leaning against the wall. "So what happened in Deklin's tent?" Gabrielle rubbed her forehead. "He's selling all of you to slavers. They are on their way here." Ephiny along with the rest of the tribe now turned to Gabrielle their mouths gaped open. "I don't know what to do." Ephiny stayed silent she could feel the other Amazons staring at them. "There's no way out of here?" Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure I was preoccupied. I found out who had Deklin looking for me. Well sort of." Ephiny remained silent waiting to hear the rest of Gabrielle's story.

"I'm not sure who the person is but they came into the room while I was talking with Deklin. They had a hood on so I couldn't see their face." Ephiny growled. "I'd like to know who sent Deklin and his men down on us." Gabrielle rubbed her eyes as she nodded. "We will find out who's behind that hood, Ephiny you can count on that." The sound of the squeaking door opening to the dungeon caused the Amazons to look up. The hooded person Gabrielle had told Ephiny about entered the room. "Gabrielle is that who you were talking about?" Gabrielle nodded as she stood up walking to the bars of their cell. "Who are you?" The hooded figure stepped closer to the cell and began to reach their hand inside. Gabrielle was still waiting to see what was about to happen. Though she remained motionless every muscle was tensed ready to fight if needed. She was a bit shocked when the person simply touched her cheek. Now was her chance to find out who it was. She quickly reached up grabbing the person's hand and twisting it around. HOlding tightly to the person's wrist she quickly reached through the bars and pulled back the hood. The long black hair was the first thing she noticed as it fell down over the person's face. What she saw next caused her to release the wrist she held.

The icy blue eyes stared back at her with a small smile. "You've gotten better Gabrielle. I wasn't expecting that. The Amazons' have taught you a lot haven't they?" Gabrielle stared back into the icy blue eyes that belonged to her once best friend Xena. As she stared at them she could sense a difference within the Warrior Princess. Something much colder, evil almost. Even with every sense screaming this was not the woman she once knew Gabrielle could barely keep from stepping back up to the bars. She wrapped her delicate hands around the bars as she pressed her face against the bars. "Xena? Is that really you?" The warrior smiled at her as she reached up to touch Gabrielle's chin. "Yes, it's me."


End file.
